Gate-opening device.



W. S. FLICK.

GATE OPENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.2B, |916.

1,21. 0,447.. Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

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W. S. FLICK.

GATE OPENING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 1m28. i916.

N l I l Patented Jan. n2, 191

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WILLIAM SHERMAN FLICK, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 G. A. LAMBERT, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA.

GATE-OPENING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed J' anuary 28, 1916. Serial 1\T o. 74,810.

To all whom t may concern Be itknown that I, VILLIAM SHERMAN F Lion, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana, have 4invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate-'Opening Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable :others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new .and useful improvements in gate lopening devices, and my object is to provide a hinge rod and so construct the same that when given a partial rotation the vgate vattached thereto will be caused to swing 'to an open or closed position.

A further object is to provide vmeans on the end olf the hinge rod for engagement with va pull cable for operating the 4hinge rod. Y

A Vfurther object is lto extend the -pul'l cable to either side of vthe gate structure and attach the ends thereof to levers where- `1 is a perspective view of a section of a fence structure showing a gate and my kimproved operating means attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the hinge rod for the gate and pull cable cooperating therewith. Fig. 3 is ka view similar to Fig. 1 showing a different form of device for rotating thehinge rod, and' F ig 4 is a detail perspective view of the upper end ofy that form of hinge rod and parts attached thereto shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 and 2 indicate posts, such as are commonly employed in fence structures for supporting gates, the post 1 acting as the hinge post, while the post 2 serves as a latch-1 ing post. Cooperating with the Vpost 1 is a hinge rod 3, said rod extending through eyes 4 and 5 secured to the post 1 by threading the stems of the eyes and engaging nuts 4 and 5 therewith, said hinge rod having upper and lower crank portions 6 and 7 which are adjacent the eyes 4 and 5 respectively, the crank portion G lextending in a diametrical'ly opposite direction from the crank portion. 7.

A gate structure 8 is attached to the crank portions 6 and 7 by means of eye bolts 9 and 10 which are likewise engaged `with nuts 9 and 10 on opposite sides of the frame of the gate, whereby the bolts 9 10 may be adjusted with respect to the gate, said crank portions being so arranged that when vthe hinge rod 3 is ,given a partial tuin, the outer end of the gate will be thrown upwardly, while the position of the crank portion 6 will incline the gate 'laterally and cause the same to rapidly swing to the rright or left and to open position by gravity, depending upon the direction in which the hinge rod is rotated.

The Vouter end of the gate 8 is provided with a springflatch 11 which engages a notch 12 in a keeper 13 on the post 2, said latch being so arranged that when the outer end of the gate is elevated it will be lifted above and disengaged from the keeper, kwhile the edge faces of the keeper are so curved that the latch will .readily snap into the notch when the 'gate is againswung to its closed position. As Vshown in Figs. 1 yand 2, the upper end of the hinge rod 3 may have attached thereto a plurality of arms 14, the outer ends of which are provided with forks 15 yfor engagement wit-,h a pull cable 16, said pull cable having a plurality `of lballs or yknobs 17 kattached thereto and arranged in .pairs so that a ball will lpass to either side of each fork `and cause thehinge rodto rotate when a lengthwise pull is given to the cable.

The cable 1G is extended a predetermined distance on opposite sides of the line of fence and the ends thereof extended over sheaves 18 attached to the upper ends of the supporting posts 19, said ends of the cable being carried beyond the sheaves and attached to the outer ends of the levers 20, a suflicient length of the ends of the cable being extended beyond each lever to receive a ring 21, or similar device which may l with which the latch of the gate engages when the gate is swung to an open position, said keepers also being provided with integral ears 24e between which the inner ends of the levers are pivotally mounted. The levers 2O normally extend at an upward outward angle from their hinged ends so that the v caused to swing to closed position.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings,

weight of the levers will hold the pull cable sufficiently taut to always hold the cable in engagement with one of the forks and will retain the cable in position to successively engage theforks as said forks are-moved intorthe'path of the cable.

When the hinge rodV has been given a quarter turn the gate will assume thesame relation with the hinge rod, as soon as it has swung to an open position, as it has with the rod when the gate is in closed position and lconsequently when the hinge rod is given a reverse quarter rotation "the gate` will be a different form of device for attaching the cable to the hinge rod is shown and in this instance a wheel 25 is attached to the upper end of the hinge rod 8, the periphery of the Y .wheel having a groove or channel 26 in which ak portion of the cable 16 is seated, 'said' cable in this instance beingx extended once around the wheel and to prevent the Vrcable from slipping on the wheel any suitable form of securing means 27 is employed for attachingthe cable to the wheel. When the. wheel is used in connection with .the rod 3 the cable may be made in one length or in Vtwo sections, if desired7 the inner ends of the sections being disposed substantially half way around the wheel and anchored thereto. The remainder of the gate structure and the operation of the same is exactly as that described in the preceding description and I hereby reserve the right to use either form ofdevice for operating the gate rod or any preferred form of device as may come within the scope of my invention.

This form of structure, in view of its simplicity, may be very cheaply constructed e and readily applied to'use, and in view of the construction of the crank portions of the hinge rod the gate will be very quickly thrown to an open or closed position by gravity. And it will likewise be seen that in view of the arrangement of the levers and pull cable, the hinge rod can be very easily rotated to cause the gate to swing to an open or closed position.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

The combination with a hinge rod having oppositely disposed crank portions, and a gate attached to vsaid Vcrank portions, of a pull cable, means carried by said rod and coperating'with the cable to cause the hinge rod to rotate when the pull cable is moved longitudinally in either direction, a supporting post a distance on each side of the gate supporting post,v a sheafve mountedupon the upper end of eachsupporting post and in alinement with the upper end of said rod, .the ends of said cable extending over said sheaves and a distance beyond the same, a

keeper fixed to each supporting post a. distance below therupper end thereof, a lever pivotally secured at one end to each keeper, said levers extending upwardly at an obtuse angle to said supporting posts and having their upper ends attached to the endsof Y the'cable a distance fromsaid sheaves, saidlevers being at a uniform angle from the posts when the gate is closed, androne of said levers resting substantially at right angles to the post and the other. substantially parallel with its post when'the gate is in open position, whereby the weight of said levers will exert tension on the cable at all times and hold the same taut, the Yends of said cable projecting beyond the ends of giving an endwise thrust -1' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 'f

v Washington, D. C. g Y 

